With origins in the long-term care field, low
hospital beds were created with fall prevention and patient safety in mind. Long-term
care facilities realized that bed height was a major factor in patient falls
and complications such as fractures, dislocations, and brain injuries, and
created the low bed as a solution.

Later, hospitals began to implement their
own fall prevention strategies for the aging population and new patient safety
initiatives, “borrowing” the concept of the low bed.

The
Low Hospital Bed Definition

Not every bed that can go high and low can
be classified as a low hospital bed. For patient safety reasons, there is a
height standard that hospital bed manufacturers must follow. A hospital bed
that goes 15 inches low cannot be lumped into the same category as a bed that
is 10 inches low to the ground – that extra 5 inches makes all the difference
in low hospital beds.

The Hospital Bed Safety Workgroup, created
by the FDA and a number of patient safety and national health care
organizations, offers a definition to classify low hospital beds:

… The bed is
considered “low” if, when the patient is sitting on the side of the bed with
feet on the floor, the angle of the patient’s bent knees is 90 degrees or less.

Since the average female leg measures 15
inches from the knee to the foot, and the average male lower leg measures 16.3
inches, the mattress deck height of a hospital bed will need to be between 9
inches and 10.3 inches low to fit this definition. Low hospital beds must
consider the height of the mattress, which is often 6 inches thick.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services simply considers the height of a low hospital bed to be between 8 -10
inches off the floor.

Standard hospital beds, at their lowest
height, range from 15 inches to 22 inches. Though the extra 5 inches may not
seem like much, studies show that a higher bed height can increase a patient’s
risk of head and brain injuries from falls.

Low hospital beds are recommended by The
Joint Commission, the FDA, and the VA National Center for Patient Safety as a
top strategy to reduce patient fall injuries. The low height provides a safe
resting height for patients and can minimize the risk of fall injuries such as fractures
and dislocations. Patients who have experienced a fall in the past often feel
more confident sleeping in a low hospital bed, which can reduce the risk of
future falls.

Though typically recommended for use in
cases when a patient is at risk of falls, low hospital beds can be used in any
acute patient care area. Every patient can feel confident, comfortable and
secure when resting at a low height.

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CHG
Hospital Beds specializes in low hospital beds that are designed to prevent
patient falls and related injuries within acute care environments. We are
focused on patient and nurse safety and deliver innovative solutions to meet
the needs of our customers.

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